Modern ultrasound diagnostic systems are large, complex instruments. Today's premium ultrasound systems, while mounted in carts for portability, continue to weigh several hundred pounds. In the past, ultrasound systems such as the ADR 4000 ultrasound system, produced by Advanced Technology Laboratories, Inc., were smaller desktop units about the size of a personal computer. However such instruments lacked many of the advanced features of today's premium ultrasound systems such as color Doppler imaging and three dimensional display capabilities.
The judicious use of power and signal processing on ASIC devices has enabled smaller system to push past the feature limitations in smaller older systems that employed mechanical transducers or analog chip sets. Digital beamforming and advanced processing are now available on smaller systems such as the SonoHeart Elite, by SonoSite, Inc., and common assignee of the present invention. The success of the handheld device has spawned competitive products that are beginning to offer more advanced features. However, the use of a small handheld requires a trade off in the form of display size and battery life. Cart based units provide users with the luxury of full sized CRT monitors, as well as a host of peripheral devices at the ready. Hand held devices offer portability, but are restricted to the features built in to their chassis. Some hand held devices are offered in combination with an interface to added peripherals through a cart add on, however this increases the cost of the device and requires a user to buy specialized equipment from the manufacturer of the hand held.
Thus. there remains a need for a diagnostic ultrasound instrument which provides the advantages of light weight mobility, combined with advanced functionality traditionally restricted to larger cart based system.
There is also a need for a more economical diagnostic ultrasound system that will allow small users and institutions to purchase ultrasound units that have the capacity the user or institution requires without having to pay the expense of additional features the user or institution will not use.
There further remains a need for a device that is portable and remains highly resistant to shock damage from being dropped or jostled during transport from place to place.